The Spite House

The Spite House by Johnny Compton (@comptonwrites), coming from @tornightfire on February 7, 2023, is a Gothic influenced ghost story about a hungry, haunted house. That's the best way I can describe it. While there are some slow burn aspects to the book, when the hauntings occur, the story quickly ramps up the action and the scare factor and things get creepy quickly.

Eric Ross and his two daughters, Dess and Stacey, are on the run from a past none of them asked for or completely understand. When the opportunity arises to make some decent money by providing evidence of the paranormal by staying at the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric jumps at the chance to be able to finally provide his daughters with some stability. But everyone show more involved, the owner of Masson House, the previous tenants, and the Ross' themselves all have secrets that they feel they need to keep, so nothing is ever as it seems. And when the house itself finally starts to play a part in the haunting, Eric knows that while he's in danger, he needs to follow through with the investigation in order to protect his daughters' futures.

Very rarely do books give me the creeps, but this one did. The descriptions of the initial hauntings and the claustrophobic nature of Masson House all add up to a feeling of pervasive dread throughout. Each chapter is told from a different character's POV; while this may sound confusing, it makes for an interesting read as we see the story unfold through the eyes of each of the characters. As everyone's secrets are laid out throughout the story, each person's motives become clear and while I thought there was going to be a lot of unanswered questions, but Compton ties everything up in a satisfying manner.

Another excellent release from Tor Nightfire! If you're a fan of ghost stories and haunted houses and don't mind a little creepiness in your book, than this is for you!

A huge thank you to @tornightfire and @netgalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I'm sure you've heard that curiosity killed the cat....and I was curious about the title, so I spent a lot more time than I probably should have on Google, reading about "Spite houses"...and I'm still alive:) It seems that they are any building that has been constructed for the sole purpose of aggravating neighbors, like to obstruct their view or to create an eyesore adjoining their property. These houses are all across the United States, and in many cases become tourist attractions because of the unusual designs, which are meant 100% to cause irritation rather than inhabitation. Amazing what useless knowledge available to us today:)

In this story the "Spite House" is the Masson House, a menacing four-story home with a bizarre design show more built next to an orphanage in Degener, Texas. The Masson House seethes with spite and is believed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the state. The story opens with Eric Ross, an unemployed single father, arrival in Degener, Texas with his two daughters, 18-year-old Dess and 7-year-old, Stacy. The family is living a dire existence, moving among seedy motels, and running from a mysterious past.

Eric has a unique job opportunity here... he's to become the caretaker of the Masson House and record a completely objective account of its supposed paranormal activities. The pay is more than generous and would mean financially security for his family, but is it worth the danger to himself and his girls?

The supernatural elements in The Spite House include specters of the Civil War; neighbors pitting against neighbor on all levels. The house is the incarnation of spite itself, unable to contain the evil that makes up its very existence. Its paranormal activity is accompanied by an unbearable, paralyzing coldness, plunging the nearby temperature close to absolute zero. The author has built layers and layers of complexity and then ties them all together in the end.

There are several unexpected features and plot twists, including a major reveal that will leave most readers, including myself, blindsided. I was also surprised that the setting is completely modern Gothic horror. The characters are the average family with family values. We also heard the viewpoints of the two girls, Dess and Stacy. Overall, this is an exhilarating debut novel that will warm your heart but also leave you chilled to the bone. show less

I'm sure you've heard that curiosity killed the cat....and I was curious about the title, so I spent a lot more time than I probably should have on Google, reading about "Spite houses"...and I'm still alive:) It seems that they are any building that has been constructed for the sole purpose of aggravating neighbors, like to obstruct their view or to create an eyesore adjoining their property. These houses are all across the United States, and in many cases become tourist attractions because of the unusual designs, which are meant 100% to cause irritation rather than inhabitation. Amazing what useless knowledge available to us today:) In this story the "Spite House" is the Masson House, a menacing four-story home with a bizarre design show more built next to an orphanage in Degener, Texas. The Masson House seethes with spite and is believed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the state. The story opens with Eric Ross, an unemployed single father, arrival in Degener, Texas with his two daughters, 18-year-old Dess and 7-year-old, Stacy. The family is living a dire existence, moving among seedy motels, and running from a mysterious past. Eric has a unique job opportunity here... he's to become the caretaker of the Masson House and record a completely objective account of its supposed paranormal activities. The pay is more than generous and would mean financially security for his family, but is it worth the danger to himself and his girls? The supernatural elements in The Spite House include specters of the Civil War; neighbors pitting against neighbor on all levels. The house is the incarnation of spite itself, unable to contain the evil that makes up its very existence. Its paranormal activity is accompanied by an unbearable, paralyzing coldness, plunging the nearby temperature close to absolute zero. The author has built layers and layers of complexity and then ties them all together in the end. There are several unexpected features and plot twists, including a major reveal that will leave most readers, including myself, blindsided. I was also surprised that the setting is completely modern Gothic horror. The characters are the average family with family values. We also heard the viewpoints of the two girls, Dess and Stacy. Overall, this is an exhilarating debut novel that will warm your heart but also leave you chilled to the bone. show less

This is a haunted house story where the ghosts are very much real, and I liked it a lot. The story is really less about the house itself, however, but about how people allow certain emotions to consume them. Very well done and recommended.

A review copy was provided by the publisher

I was excited for this book when I first heard about it at a StokerCon a few years back, long before publication, and it didn't disappoint. Compton's take on the bad house novel is fantastic, and I couldn't get enough of this book almost as soon as I picked it up. I only wish it had been a touch longer so that I could live in the creepiness and with the characters for longer, but it's pretty darn pitch-perfect as is. I'll buy anything Compton writes after reading this one.

Absolutely recommended to all horror lovers.

A spooky and compelling haunted house story. Not much time is lost before things get unsettling, even before Eric and his two daughters arrive at the spite house, and as soon as they do, the scares begin. One of the scares is one of my favorite haunted house devices: haunting by a living person, or a person haunting themself. One flaw is that there is almost too much going on, and another is some overexplanation of the “mechanics” toward the end; the best hauntings remain mysterious, not explained by some sort of preternatural physics.

I had to sit with this one for a little while before trying to write a review. This book teetered between good and great for a while, if that makes sense. I was invested from the beginning and fell in love the with characters. The story was well written and the suspense drove me crazy, but in a good way. The main characters being people of color--I didn't even realize that when I picked up the book, but it made the story different because black people don't do haunted houses! All that to say, after sitting with this and thinking about it for the last couple of days, this book was great. I would revisit this book.